MEDIQUAD, Smart Drone Created by UNU Jogja Students for Medicine Delivery

Yogyakarta, Indonesia – A student of Nahdlatul Ulama University (UNU) Jogja has successfully developed MEDIQUAD (Medical Quadcopter for Autonomous Delivery), an autonomous drone designed to deliver medicine automatically without continuous manual control from an operator.

MEDIQUAD can navigate a pre-programmed route and autonomously return to its starting point after completing a delivery, even in the event of technical interference. This innovation is expected to serve as a practical solution for distributing medicine to remote areas or during emergency situations that are difficult for medical personnel to access.

The developer, Moch. Fakhrul Rois, an Electrical Engineering student from the 2020 cohort, explained that the drone operates using an APM 2.8 flight controller and Neo 7M GPS, managed through Mission Planner software for flight route configuration. Equipped with telemetry, MEDIQUAD’s movements can be monitored in real-time via a laptop or ground control station. The drone also supports several operation modes, including automatic flight, hover, and autonomous landing.

“Technology should help people, not just showcase sophistication. Through this project, I want to demonstrate that drones can be used for meaningful purposes, such as delivering medicine to those in need,” said Fakhrul.

The project, supervised by Zulkhairi, serves as part of Fakhrul’s final thesis. According to Zulkhairi, this work demonstrates that UNU Jogja students are capable of developing innovations with real-world impact.
“This innovation illustrates the challenges of delivering medicine to locations that are hard to reach by medical personnel. It also inspires the younger generation to explore technological advancements within electrical engineering,” he stated.

Moving forward, Zulkhairi hopes more student innovations will go beyond academic projects and evolve into concrete solutions that address real societal needs. [Latifah]